Cho Hakkai/Introduction
Cho Hakkai (豬八戒) is the mild, polite and level-headed member of the Sanzo Ikkou. He is always looking out for their day to day well being. He takes on the more feminine roles: cooking, cleaning up after everyone, making sure their supplies are in order, and solving (or at least calming down) the arguments and yelling matches that happen frequently. He is also their healer, his kikou jutsu (chi manipulation/Qigong) comes in handy in battle in the form of ki blasts and protective barriers. Personality Hakkai comes across as an intelligent, well-mannered young man with a soft-spoken demeanor and a quick smile. He can be somewhat absent-minded, and what one might term a 'home-body,' in that he enjoys cleaning, cooking, and other activities more usually suited to house-wives. Hakkai is well read and enjoys learning (he used to work as a school teacher, in fact) and is full of strange, possibly useless information. He also possesses a good memory, and is fairly capable when it comes to 'reading' people (which makes him killer when it comes to poker). His sense of humor is quirky, and due to the fact that he nearly never shows anger, it can be difficult to tell if his cheerfully delivered barbs are honest or in jest, which some people find rather off-putting. He puts forth an optimistic attitude even in the face of severe adversity, though he is perfectly capable of treating a given situation with the seriousness it is due. He's not a clown, so much as someone who seeks to keep everyone around him in good spirits even when the going gets rough. This affable, if odd, exterior hides a much darker side which--thankfully--is rarely seen. It's a part of him that only emerges fueled by a deep feeling of hurt and rage, a need for vengeance that can take a horrifying toll on those unfortunate enough to provoke it. It's a part of himself that Hakkai has tried to put away, something he hopes very dearly will remain in his past. Due to the circumstances of his life, there is also a lingering sense of melancholy about him that emerges from time to time, a result of feelings of guilt and self-depreciation in regards to the crimes he committed in the past. When his limiters are removed to release his full demihuman power, there is always the risk that Hakkai will lose his sense of self and be unable to control his actions unless someone acts to stop him. It is for this reason, along with a certain distaste for what he has become, that causes him to wear power-limiting devices on a daily basis. He has also never been known to get drunk. Appearance Hakkai is a tall, lanky young man with a warm smile, messy brown hair, and green eyes. The truly observant may be able to tell that his right eye is actually a fake--a magitech prosthetic that functions well enough to give him depth perception, but is otherwise nearly blind. He wears glasses to further improve his vision. In addition, he sports a large ugly scar across his abdomen, which is usually hidden by his clothing. Hakkai tends to favor clothes that, while in good repair, range on the slightly baggy side of the spectrum, giving him the look of the absent-minded scholar he used to be. The white cloth he always wears is for Hakuryuu to sit on and prevent his clothes from being torn by its claws. On his left ear, he wears three silver cuffs. These cuffs are actually magitech limiters which regulate his demihuman abilities and allow him to retain his human appearance. When the limiters are removed, Hakkai is transformed, fingernails becoming claws, ears becoming pointed, and his left eye becoming yellow and slitted like a cat's. Furthermore, his skin becomes swirled with black vine 'tattoos' (see abilities for details). Hakkai prefers to retain his human appearance whenever possible. In Saiyuki Reload and Saiyuki Reload Gunlock, Cho Hakkai's primary attire has minor changes. His green qipao becomes short sleeves with black outlines in each sides and it is shown to be loose while it was tucked with a black sash. He also gains a black long sleeve undershirt beneath his outfit and his pants are charcoal gray. Youkai form ]]In the Saiyuki manga, Hakkai has taken off his limiters three times - once in the Burial Arc to save Gojyo from a group of youkai who held him hostage, another time in the Kami-sama Arc before Goku while they were trapped in Kinkaku's gourd, and a third time in the "Even a Worm" Arc in the Reload manga, where he had to stop a berserk Goku as Seiten Taisei. As mentioned previously, he also took his limiters off in the Homura Arc in the anime. Until recently in the "Even a Worm" Arc, Hakkai's transformations revealed only a back view and a blurry profile of his youkai self. Very limited information is given regarding his conditions as a youkai. The "Even a Worm" Arc clarifies a lot of things. In the story, Goku is attacked on the streets by an unknown foe and badly injured, to the point where Hakkai declares that the only option is to take off his diadem and hope that his Seiten Taisei life-force can save him. In the meanwhile Sanzo has gone off alone to find and kill Goku's attacker. As Goku recovers and turns berserk, even Gato's bullets cannot stop him - he catches them all. Deciding that there is one available option to take, Hakkai takes off his limiters, asking Gojyo to stop him if he goes berserk. At this point a bit of background information is provided, in the form of a flashback conversation between Sanzo and Hakkai. Sanzo had warned him that Hakkai should not take his limiters off - that he, unlike Goku, would be affected by the minus wave, and possibly lose his senses for good. Ep. 18]]This is also the first time where the audience can see Hakkai's face as a youkai: he has the typical pointed ears, and his hair gets longer - Gonou's hairstyle, basically. His vine markings wind around the whole of his body, even his face (in the manga, the vines are green; in the Reload anime they are dark red). And as the solution for the much-debated topic of his eye in the manga, here Hakkai's right eye is clearly shown to be prosthetic; his left eye becomes golden with a slit-pupil, marking his way of becoming a youkai, while his right remains green with a round pupil as it is a prosthetic eye. As Hakkai takes on Son Goku, he is shown to be much faster than his human self, and much more durable. However, as he is subject to the minus wave, he is shown to be more aggressive, repeatedly punching Goku in the face whilst holding him down. As Gojyo holds him back, Hakkai's fist almost lands in Sha's face before he restrains himself and regains some human senses. He himself is shocked by his own brutality under the effects of the minus wave. Another exciting feature of Hakkai in youkai form is his markings. They are much more extravagant and dynamic than those of normal youkai, and for a good reason - one of youkai Hakkai's abilities is materializing his vine markings into actual vines, controlling them and having them travel across the surface of any solids in order to bind. He uses this power to grab hold of Goku as he lands on the ground, grabs his arm from having them travel out from his ankles, and conducts electricity through Gato's gun, Gato, Hakkai himself, the ground and Goku, all bound by his vine markings. This skill in its own nature seems to startle and even shock Son Goku. However powerful Hakkai is shown in this battle, it is also made clear that he is no match for Son Goku. Goku is a lot more agile, faster, more brutal, stronger and recovers at an unbelievable rate, and he can also utilize the energies of the earth. Hakkai only manages to restore Goku's diadem through manipulating the natural power of lightning, and he almost kills himself in the process. Relationships ; Close Friend and Roommate]] Sha Gojyo - Gojyo is Hakkai's closest friend. Years ago, Gojyo found him and saved his life. He took Hakkai in and they lived together while Hakkai's wounds healed. Gojyo never asked about Hakkai, his name or his past, and Hakkai in his own way was very appreciative of that. They connected easily claiming they were both a "jack of all Trades". Later, Hakkai told Gojyo that he found the bright red color of Gojyo's eyes and hair were an admonishment him. After their meeting with Sanzo and Goku the two continue to live with each other. It's was rough at first because they had such different personalities, but they have seemed to grow on each other. In Saiyuki Burial Hakkai calls himself a busy body when he comes to rescue Gojyo after he'd left Hakkai in the doorway claiming that whatever was going on what none of his business. The two of them are close and it's hard not to pick on the bromance going on between the two of them with them passing jokes back and forth such as "This is the first and last time I take a man to bed". Genjo Sanzo - Hakkai, the cook, pack-mule, driver, shopper, etc., also manged to play the role of Sanzo's therapist. He and Sanzo are close in the sense that the two of them seem to be able to talk about some pretty "heavy shit" that Sanzo would never talk about otherwise. Hakkai is also able to calm the hard headed monk where the other two members of the group only rile his anger further. Hakkai seems to have at least a vague understanding of Sanzo's past and sympathizes with his hatred of the rain as it also brings his emotional grief as well. When Hakkai was first apprehended and taken before the Three Aspects, Sanzo claimed responsibility for supervising Hakkai. For this Hakkai feels that he is forever in Sanzo's debt (in a good way, of course). Son Goku - Hakkai is like Goku's teacher, as befittingly Hakkai was a teacher himself in the past. Hakkai is often giving Goku advice, calming him down when he upset, or simply pacifying him. Goku looks up to Hakkai and probably thinks of him pretty fondly because he's the only one that doesn't hit him. Hakkai finds Goku simplicity and childlike way of looking at situations to be very refreshing compared to the rest of the dark pasts that he and the other members of the Sanzo party share. Hakkai also looks out for Goku in a more obvious way then the others. ]] Cho Kanan - Kanan was Gonou's twin sister and lover. Their parents separated, each taking one child with them. It is unknown how her childhood went, only that she was raised by her father. She met up against with Gonou when they were teenagers. It isn't revealed when they figured out they were siblings, but they continued their relationship regardless. While they were together, Gonou was most likely in charge of the feminine chores, such as cooking. In several flashbacks, it's also been shown that Kanan liked Gonou's hands, calling them pretty. Hakuryuu - Hakkai found the injured little dragon in the woods one day, took him home, and nursed him back to health. Since then, he's essentially been Hakkai's loyal pet and method of transportation. For his part, Hakkai has treated Hakuryuu with proper respect. Abilities/Weapons , episode 22 ]]Hakkai practices kikou jutsu, or better known as Qigong (chi manipulation), which allows him to manipulate his chi into blasts and force shields, suitable for defending against a small number of armed individuals or shielding himself and others in his immediate vicinity from attacks. He can also use this ability to heal others, though how well he can do this depends on the nature of the injury. He can heal wounds, for example, but cannot replenish the blood a person may have lost as a result of the wound. Though it is not often showed, he is also very skilled in hand in hand combat and martial arts. He is much stronger than he looks, as he is able to wipe out a whole races of demon with just a dagger when he was still human. When Hakkai removes his limiters and takes his full demonic form, he can unleash his full demonic abilities such as enhanced strength, speed, and agility. His chi manipulation also increases in magnitude. In addition, he can control the vine 'tattoos' or demonic marks in his skin that cover his entire body, sending them out across any surface he touches to ensnare others. In Saiyuki Reload during his fight with the Seiten Taisei, he uses Gat, a human that has been revived multiple times, as a sort of lightning rod along with his vines to electrocute Goku in his demonic form. Category:Subpage